Author

Jordan Kahn

Dir. Partnerships

9to5Mac / 9to5Google / 9to5Toys / Electrek.co / DroneDJ / SpaceExplored

Jordan manages the internal Partner Program for sponsorships and partnerships across the 9to5 network’s media brands including 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, Electrek.co, SpaceExplored and DroneDJ.com.

Jordan also writes about all things Apple as a Senior Editor of 9to5Mac. He covers Google for 9to5Google.com, the best gadgets and deals on 9to5Toys.com, and EV and solar news on Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series and makes music sometimes.

Contact Jordan with partnership inquiries and long-winded complaints:

Connect with Jordan Kahn

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WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! AT&T tops JD Power and Samsung tops Apple in customer satisfaction surveys

Jordan Kahn Aug 1 2013 - 8:36 am PT

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We’re used to seeing Apple at the top of customer satisfaction surveys– it even promotes its multiple JD Power wins as the highest ranked smartphone and tablet on its website. However, the latest numbers from the American Customer Satisfaction Index has Samsung taking the lead from Apple, at least when it comes to smartphones.

In May, the ACSI report, which surveys over 70k US consumers, showed Apple continued its lead for customer satisfaction, but Samsung was quickly closing the gap. The new ACSI report covering only smartphones shows Samsung has since been able to surpass iPhone thanks to strong scores from its Galaxy S III and Note II:

Samsung’s flagship model for 2012, the S III, receives an ACSI benchmark of 84 (on a 0 to 100 scale), beating Apple’s iPhone 5 at 82, the company’s most recent smartphone offering. Another Samsung model, Note II, shares the top of list at 84. Galaxy S4 is not included because the ACSI study was fielded just prior to its launch.

Apple still takes the top spot in many countries, including Samsung’s home territory, and also continues to lead in overall customer satisfaction outside of the smartphone category:

While U.S. customers give Samsung’s smartphones the top scores, Korean consumers prefer Apple. According to the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) in South Korea, which uses the same technology as the ACSI, the iPhone 5 has higher customer satisfaction than Galaxy S III… Unlike Apple, which has a smartphone-only lineup, Samsung offers both feature and smartphones. At 76, Samsung continues to lag Apple for overall customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, the company’s 7% gain in 2013 is a clear reflection of the strength of Galaxy S III.

Another somewhat surprising result today, and one T-Mobile’s John Legere definitely won’t be happy about, is JD Power’s 2013 wireless customer service satisfaction survey. Coming out on top for the first time is AT&T, ranking the highest in customer service and many other categories in the survey, and followed by Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile:
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BlackBerry rolling out BBM for iOS and Android beta invites

Jordan Kahn Aug 1 2013 - 7:13 am PT

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A report from BlackBerryOS.com notes that invites to BlackBerry’s upcoming BBM service for iOS and Android have now started rolling out to users on the company’s Beta Zone website. Back in May, BlackBerry announced that its popular messaging platform would finally become cross-platform and arrive on both iOS and Android devices “later this summer,” and that deadline to launch is of course quickly approaching.

Not all Beta Zone members have received the invite email above, but it looks like BlackBerry is getting closer to finally launching the new apps.

We haven’t seen much of the iOS app, but BlackBerryOS also got its hands on the screenshots below of the latest Android beta:

If you have screenshots of the iOS app, you can send them to tips@9to5Mac.com.

Official ‘Imgur’ iOS app finally arrives on the App Store

Jordan Kahn Jul 31 2013 - 2:57 pm PT

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After launching its first official Android app back in June, popular photo sharing service Imgur this week finally released its first app for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. The new free app provides the majority of features that users can access through the web version of the service, including: the ability to browse, comment, upload photos, and manage accounts and albums.

Although it’s the first app the company has released itself, it already has competition with a handful of popular third-party clients in the App Store. Those apps use an API that the company provides and has frequently been adding new features to, but some include features not yet available in Imgur’s own app. Early reviews note that the app doesn’t yet allow users to save photos into their library, while sharing options for GIFs aren’t available from albums.

When it launched its Android app Imgur teased that additional content creation features were on the way, so it’s likely the company has plans to implement more features in the mobile app beyond what’s offered through the service on the web.

The Imgur app is available for free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
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Google Play passes App Store in downloads for the first time, but not revenue

Jordan Kahn Jul 31 2013 - 9:42 am PT

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According to data from App Annie’s latest download and revenue report, Google Play for the first time surpassed the App Store in app downloads during the second quarter of 2013. While Google was able to move past Apple with about 10 percent more downloads during the three month period, the report notes the App Store brought in nearly 2.3x the amount of revenue.

App Annie says that Google Play’s growth was driven by emerging markets including Brazil, India, and Russia, and while the App Store still leads by revenue, Google Play closed the gap slightly compared to last quarter and years past.

Google Play saw Brazil climb two spots to join India and Russia as another emerging market in the top 5 countries by downloads for Q2 2013…The United States, Japan and United Kingdom remained the leaders in the iOS App Store when looking at revenue generation, and Australia climbed to #4 after a strong Q2. iOS App Store revenue was driven primarily by the United States and Japan, which combined to account for about half of the total iOS App Store revenue in Q2.

App Annie’s report also includes its Games Index tracking mobile games on iOS and Android, which now account for around 40 percent of all downloads on both platforms. During Q2, Gameloft’s Despicable Me: Minion Rush grabbed the top spot for most downloaded iOS game, while publisher Tiny Piece took the honour on Google Play.

As for non-gaming apps, Vine increased by three positions to become the most downloaded app during the quarter on iOS, followed closely by YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram.
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Viber iPhone app updated w/ doodles, ‘Seen’ status, new emoticons, and more

Jordan Kahn Jul 31 2013 - 7:37 am PT

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Viber-Doodle-iOS-app Popular messaging and VoIP service Viber just updated its iPhone app with a number of new features that first hit Android devices yesterday. The update brings “doodles”, a feature that lets users draw on top of photos before sharing.

Also new in version 3.1 of Viber is the ability to see when a recipient has viewed a message with “Seen” status notifications.

In addition, the updated app includes more emoticons, additional language support, and “Support for the Viber Desktop application on Windows and Mac.”

A full list of new features is below:

What’s New in Version 3.1

• Send doodles or paint over a photo and share it with your friends!
• “Seen” status lets you know when your messages have been seen
• Support for the Viber Desktop application on Windows and Mac
• Fun new emoticons
• Message performance improvements
• Bug fixes
• Localized to: Croatian, Norwegian, Romanian, Slovak and Ukrainian

Apple job listing hints at iOS keyboard support for additional languages & scripts

Jordan Kahn Jul 30 2013 - 11:37 am PT

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Apple currently supports over 50 languages and varying script systems with its system-wide keyboard in iOS, but a new job listing hints that it is working to add support for additional languages and writing systems. Apple is looking to add engineers to its iOS keyboard and text team, and its UIKit Frameworks team, to “work closely with international teams and native speakers to accommodate all the world’s script systems.”

Apple has done a lot of work on the iOS keyboard in terms of language support in recent years, and most recently announced that “improved Chinese input including handwriting recognition for multiple Chinese characters” would be arriving in iOS 7.

iOS currently supports the over 50+ languages listed below, but users continue to request other unsupported languages and script systems. For example, Maltese, Afrikaans, and the Persian or Perso-Arabic alphabet are just a few not yet supported.
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‘Showtime Anytime’ iOS app updated with Live TV streams

Jordan Kahn Jul 30 2013 - 8:02 am PT

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Shotime-Anytime Showtime updated its “Showtime Anytime” app today with live TV feeds that allow users to watch what’s currently airing on both SHOWTIME East and SHOWTIME West. That’s in addition to the on-demand content it previously offered.

The app is available for free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and available to subscribers of AT&T U-verse, Comcast XFINITY, DIRECTV, Optimum and Verizon FiOS.

What’s New in Version 2.0

– Live TV: Tune in to watch what’s currently airing LIVE on SHOWTIME
– Improved stability and performance
– Minor bug fixes

AAPL Company

Bob Mansfield’s transition from Senior VP to Special Projects seen as ‘nothing punitive’

Jordan Kahn Jul 29 2013 - 11:47 am PT

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Senior VP of Technologies Bob Mansfield (Photo: Apple)

Following Apple’s confirmation that its Senior Vice President of Technologies Bob Mansfield would be leaving the executive team but continuing to work on special projects at the company, there has been much speculation about what the move meant behind the scenes at Apple. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber chimes in today claiming that people familiar with the situation say the move is simply part of the transition started when Mansfield originally retired as SVP of Hardware:

There’s nothing punitive with Mansfield’s role change, nor health problems or anything like that. Just a more focused role on certain new products. His un-retirement as a senior vice president last year was always intended to be transitional, not permanent… Outside the company, we were surprised Mansfield’s return as an SVP turned out to be temporary. Inside Apple, they seem surprised we’d read “backstage intrigue” into his de-listing from their executive ranks.

Gruber adds that “Mansfield is well-liked at all levels within the company and truly is working on special projects (read: new products).” There was some speculation that perhaps something else was going on behind the scenes that lead to Mansfield’s removal from the executive team but, according to Gruber, that’s not the case.

Apple is yet to announce a new head for its Technologies group, or confirm whether or not Mansfield will continue to lead the team while working on his special projects. We recently reported that Mansfield is working on upcoming Apple wearable devices.

‘MyStache’ iOS app sneaks past App Store reviewers with hidden Nintendo emulators

Jordan Kahn Jul 29 2013 - 9:41 am PT

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Update: Apple appears to have removed the app from the App Store.

A new iOS app called “MyStache” has made its way past Apple’s App Store reviewers with hidden emulator functionality for Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy. The iPhone & iPad app is disguised as an “augmented reality Mustache app,” but loading up ROMs through iTunes file sharing reveals a small red button that will launch the built-in, hidden emulators.

The emulators work on both iPhone & iPad, and offer game saves, a full-screen mode, and landscape support.

This isn’t the first time that game emulator has made its way past Apple’s App Store reviewers. Developers have been hiding emulators in everything from ordinary looking puzzle games to baby name apps, and Apple is usually on top of pulling the emulators which allow users to load up ROM files for old console games. There had even been some solutions that bypassed the App Store allowing users to download emulators directly from their browser on to their iOS devices, but most of those apps seem to be no longer functioning.

We’d expect Apple to pull the new MyStache app shortly, but for now it’s still available on the App Store for $1.99.